My guide will help you to understand online conference software, from providers, features, to packages. Things you should look out for, and things to avoid. First of all, what is online conference software.

Online conference software is a tool used now by thousands of businesses across the globe. It was developed for business collaboration. Its job in detail is to replicate that of an offline meeting or conference but without having to collect together in one location. Instead, online conference software enables you to have a meeting with attendees being anywhere in the world and coming together in one location over the Internet. In fact anybody with an Internet connection can now join in and take part in an online conference.

Offline conferencing and meetings still take place and still play a huge part in business development and growth. However, the increase in technology, features, functions and providers are making it extremely easy for those to adopt online conference software and to implement it into their business.

Like anything though, if you are new to this then you have to get up to speed on your level of knowledge and understanding. Not to worry, because I have this quick start guide which I learnt the hard way to help you quickly understand and implement to choose a suitable conference package. In following my quick guide you will find a fast, affordable, flexible provider allowing for growth packed full of features, which will enable you to easily replicate that same experience you get from an offline meeting, at the fraction of the cost.

Here are my main golden rules and Im sure you will understand why. First of all, one of the main reasons people are turning to online conference software is because they are trying to cut costs. Therefore you will see why I recommend choosing a provider who charge a small monthly fee per room, and not a fee per attendee. Per room, is a small subscription where you own a conference room with a set amount of seats which you can use as much as you like, when you like. Per attendee, is self explanatory really and the costs can still go into the thousands for larger events.

My other main golden rule is to choose a provider which streams your conference room live from a high speed server and does not require you to download and install the software. Im sure you understand how important it is not to have cross compatibility issues with operating systems. If you choose a provider which requires you to download and install software, then all of your attendees would have to do this also before they can enter the conference. Very messy.

Those were my main golden rules. Go with cost per room and a room which is streamed live from a server. These pointers are very important and key to successfully connecting globally and cutting business costs. To ensure this works for you, finish your targeted search off with making sure the provider can cover business growth. If your conferences become larger over time you will want your provider to expand with you and have larger rooms you can adopt.

I will finish this guide with a handful of features I recommend. You don’t have to have all of these but I found them to hold the most value during an online video conference. Browser sharing, desktop sharing, PowerPoint sharing, video sharing, whiteboard sharing, full way text chat, full way video chat, record function, multiple moderator function.

Use and stick to my guide and you will be more than happy with your choice in conference provider. This is my quick start guide for the beginner, saving you hours in mistakes.